Originally posted by the Voice of America.
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White House Abandons Fight Over Foreign Aid

Ken Bredemeier

   The White House on Thursday abandoned its fight with Congress over
   whether to fund $4 billion in foreign aid and will allow the money to
   be spent.
   U.S. President Donald Trump had considered cutting the spending on the
   ground that it was wasteful and unnecessary, buthe retreated when it
   became apparent that some key lawmakers were opposed.
   "The president has been clear that there is waste and abuse in our
   foreign assistance, and we need to be wise about where U.S. money is
   going," a senior White House official told VOA, "which is why he asked
   his administration to look into options to doing just that."
   But after both Republican and Democratic lawmakers objected to the
   White House effort to freeze the foreign aid already approved by
   Congress, the Trump administration gave in.
   "It's clear that there are many [in Congress] who aren't willing to
   join in curbing wasteful spending," the White House official said.
   Some of Trump's top budget-cutters wanted him to trim the foreign aid
   as a show of fiscal restraint after Trump recently signed a two-year,
   $2.7 trillion spending plan.
   But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, who oversees the
   Democratic-controlled House of Representatives, said that withholding
   the money would have violated "the good faith" of reaching agreement on
   the long-term budget.

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